A charity under the control of a "cult-like organisation" led by a Danish fugitive has received "tens of millions of pounds" of funding from the Department for International Development and Unicef, according to a BBC report.

Unicef said it has now suspended funding to the Malawian-based charity Development Aid from People to People (DAPP), which also has a UK subsidiary.

Grants were given to the charity to relieve poverty in Malawi. But an investigation by Reveal: the Centre for Investigative Reporting, claimed that the group diverted funds to an organisation called the Teachers Group, run by Danish fugitive Mogens Amdi Petersen, who is accused by Interpol of fleeing charges of embezzlement and tax evasion.

A spokesman for Unicef said the charity was taking the allegations “very seriously” and suspended payments pending a review.

“Unicef has suspended payments and commenced a global review of all our programmes with the Humana/DAPP Federation in light of the allegations regarding the organisation as reported by the Centre for Investigative Reporting and the BBC,” the spokesman told Civil Society News.

The charity said it has initiated its own investigation of the Unicef/DAPP Program in Malawi.

“Unicef takes allegations of fraud very seriously and is committed to being open and transparent about its funding. This commitment was acknowledged by the annual Aid Transparency Index in 2016 which ranked Unicef 3 out of 46 organisations,” a statement by the charity said.

According to the Centre for Investigative Reporting, Danish police believe Petersen is guilty of running a “network of humanitarian aid groups, businesses and an offshore financial network set up to hide assets intended for charity”.

The report said one farming project in Malawi, held up by the charity as one of its successes, showed very little evidence that money had reached its intended target.

The charity is also accused of coercing its Malawi-based staff into sinking their salaries back into the charity, forcing some to resign.

This morning a spokeswoman for the UK’s subsidiary of DAPP declined to comment but directed Civil Society News to a statement on the Malawian charity’s website.

DAPP Malawi denies misuse of funds

A statement on the website of DAPP Malawi, denied misusing donor funds.

“We are an independent organisation, directed by its board of trustees and guided by its constitution,” the statement said.

“The use and application of all donor funds by DAPP Malawi follows budgets agreed with donors and aims at fulfilling the objectives of DAPP Malawi's humanitarian work. All funds are accounted for and independently audited.

“At no time has donor funding ever been used for purposes other than those intended and agreed with donors. DAPP Malawi is confident about the robustness of its systems and procedures in place to effectively monitor and account for expenditure and DAPP Malawi's use of funds. As such, we intend to commission a review of all of DAPP Malawi's accounts for the last ten years to further demonstrate there is not, and has never been, any misuse of donor funds.”

The charity also denies coercing employees to direct funds back to the charity.

“DAPP Malawi pays salaries to its employees in accordance with their employment contracts and agreements with donors. DAPP Malawi does not, and has never, coerced any employee into disposing of their salary in any way other than the employees see fit.

“A number of DAPP Malawi's employees voluntarily contribute to a Joint Accounts Association, the proceeds of which are used for the benefit of the members of the Joint Accounts Association. All of these funds remain in Malawi.”

This morning the Charity Commission said it was “assessing information relating to the registered charity Development Aid from People to People UK” and has contacted the charity's trustees.